State News

More thorough background checks would be required of all Georgia assisted living community owners, workers with direct access to residents and applicants for jobs with duties that would put them in direct contact with residents under a bill now being considered by the state senate.

Minnesota will have a new assisted living license and new dementia care certification in less than two years if Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers follow the recommendations contained in a new report from a task force appointed by the governor to address concerns related to elder abuse.

Associations representing assisted living operators in Florida have agreed to drop their legal challenges to a rule requiring them to install generators for resident safety during power outages. Instead, they will support a revised proposed rule issued Friday by the state Department of Elder Affairs, Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday.

A new law in Colorado aims to help address the state's nursing shortage and make it easier for the state's almost 90,000 nurses to respond to emergencies in other states by simplifying licensing procedures.

The man behind a proposal that would add a "Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility Residents' Bill of Rights" to the Florida constitution says it is an effort to "establish a situation where the rights of residents of long-term care facilities are at least on par with the rights of everyone else." At least one organization representing care and service providers, however, describes the proposal as "nothing more than an avaricious ploy by trial lawyers to profit from increased lawsuits."

The Virginia Department of Social Services would study independent living communities to see whether state regulation and oversight would "help to ensure that residents ... are adequately protected" if a joint resolution introduced in the state legislature passes.

An Alabama senior living community that has become home to several people with mental health challenges under the state's changing approach to behavioral healthcare saw three deaths by suicide and at least two attempted deaths by suicide among residents in 2017.

Following a seven-day stay at a veterans home that has been plagued with cases of Legionnaires' disease, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced near-term and longer-term plans to try to reduce the health risks for staff members and the 600 residents who live there.

Residents of St. John's recently were surprised with handmade Valentine's Day cards and gifts from local elementary school students.

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